State-of-art Spurs stadium to have unique feature

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur’s new 61,000-seater stadium will boast an historic feature by having the first dividing retractable football pitch, the Premier League side announced Thursday.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has said in the past he is keen to host a London NFL franchise and, with this in mind, there will be a grass surface for football and beneath it an artificial surface for American football.

Spurs already have a 10-year partnership in place which will see two NFL matches a year hosted at their new home.

The grass surface will sit on top of an NFL-approved artificial pitch and divide into three pieces.

Each section will roll into place from underneath the South Stand and join together to create a playing surface in a process which is said to take 25 minutes.

“The fully retractable grass surface will be used for football matches whilst the artificial pitch underneath will be used for NFL matches, music concerts and a range of other events, in order to protect the integrity of both playing surfaces,” read a statement from the club.

Tottenham plan to move into the new stadium from the start of next season.

They are currently playing their home matches at Wembley Stadium while work is completed on the new ground, which is being built next to their old White Hart Lane home.

Levy told ESPN last year how keen he was that the new stadium be capable of hosting an NFL franchise.

“If it ever got to a stage where the NFL decided it wanted to have a permanent team in London, this stadium could literally be — whatever the team was — their stadium as opposed to an NFL team feeling they’re renting Tottenham’s stadium,” he said.